


That town called Mamacita

by Mihue (brian_fan_4eva)



Category: K-pop, Super Junior
Genre: Gen, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-11
Updated: 2014-10-02
Packaged: 2018-02-16 22:43:50
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 14,082
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2287151
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/brian_fan_4eva/pseuds/Mihue
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Choi Siwon's the Sheriff, stuck in the tiny wayward town called Mamacita. The days pass much the same as any other, hot, dry, and not a whole lot to do until his best friend shows up out of no where. Cho Kyuhyun's arguably one of the best gamblers in the area, but a few bad runs with some newly minted players has him backtracking to his other hobby, being a part time deputy of the law, and being sent out to Mamacita to assist Siwon in what could become the greatest scheme of all time, or the greatest heist ever to happen: Capturing the mastermind behind the infamous thief, Park 'Leeteuk' Jungsu.</p><p>**Cross posted on AFF</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Welcome to Mamacita

**Author's Note:**

> Loosely based off the drama version MV for Super Junior's comeback single Mamacita.
> 
> I also sort of blame Kyuhyun in the drama version for showing off that adorably evil sexy smirk and that image not leaving my head for like 2 days straight.
> 
> Not sure how many chapters this will be.
> 
> I know I said in the last chapter of Adaptation I wouldn't post this story till it's done, but I lied lol.

The soft sounds of hoof beats on sand does nothing to stifle the severe lack of greenery surrounding the road that leads to the small wayward town called Mamacita. Sighing softly, Choi Siwon wonders for the billionth time why he’s the one who has to be the Sheriff in such a small, off the beaten trail type of tiny town such as this one. The only consolation he has is that there is little to no crime, so Siwon’s pistols are spit shined to perfection, gleaming silver and steel bright enough to blind anyone who’s unfortunate enough to glance at them when the sun is glaring maddeningly in the sky.

Siwon’s also caught up on his reading list, not that there was much for him to read on it, but the point is, Siwon’s bored in this small eyesore of a town. Sure he’s caught a few random wanted men who thought the tiny town wouldn’t even have a jail, let alone a Sheriff, but the last one he’d caught had been some small-bit gambler who’d been caught cheating at cards in a major poker tournament.

The unfortunate part had been the reward for the capture of said gambler had almost been outweighed by the costs of having to feed him while some deputy came to get him to take back to the county where he’d committed the crime.

Since then, it’s been dull enough that Siwon’s taken to growing a mustache out and attempting a new styles with the itchy thing.

The hoof beats on the sand stop not far from where Siwon’s sitting outside his office, trying to beat the dry heat with a bit of shade and a cool drink from across the way. Siwon considers the tall glass of lemonade a boon, and the establishment that it comes from is nothing short of a god send some nights. Kim Heechul’s bar is probably the one place where Siwon can go, have a drink or two, and enjoy the company of people who don’t care about this tiny town they live in.

“Well, this is unexpected!” The smooth voice rolls over Siwon as he’s taking a sip of the still cold liquid.

Siwon looks up and spots a face he never thought he’d see again. “Cho Kyuhyun!” Siwon’s face breaks out into a grin seeing his old friend. “What brings you here?”

Kyuhyun smiles, the expression making him look much younger than he really is. “I think my days of gambling are over.” He laments as he comes over, takes the seat across from Siwon and draws off his riding gloves. “I’ve lost my last 3 games in a row and most of the money I’ve put aside for gambling purposes only.” He admits to the older man. “So I got trained in the last town over as a deputy and they sent me this way.” Kyuhyun pulls out a stack of wanted posters.

Siwon’s eyes light up. He’s been waiting for a new stack since the last telegraph message had come in stating most of the wanted posters up on the wall in the office were obsolete. “Oh sweet. I’ve been waiting for the new posters.”

Kyuhyun hands him the stack, which Siwon immediately starts shuffling through them. “Park Jungsoo, aka Leeteuk.” Siwon’s holding up the wanted poster of a thin looking man with the typical cowboy hat and a dark throw over in the picture. “Wanted for theft.”

“He’s the newest one.” Kyuhyun comments, taking a look around the tiny town, a frown spreading on his face. “Wow, this place is smaller than I expected.”

Siwon snorts, the action fluttering the papers in front of his face. “It’s the most boring place on the planet.” He says, flipping through the stack some more before settling the thief poster on top and putting the stack under his recently cleaned pistol. “Last arrest I had was over a month ago.”

Kyuhyun sighs. “Well at least I’ll get to practice my card skills some while I’m here.” He cracks the knuckles on his hands, the gloves already stowed in a random pocket on his dust jacket.

Siwon raises an eyebrow at his friend. “What do you mean?” He asked, leaning forward in his chair.

“Some of the other counties think that a lot of the people wanted in that stack are in this county and might be coming through Mamacita, so I was send to be your deputy.” Kyuhyun tells him, shrugging off the dust jacket, revealing a smart looking suit.

Siwon sighs. “Well I guess that can’t be helped. You’ll be just as bored here with me as any other.”

Kyuhyun smirks. “Well, that’s the idea. I sort of asked for this spot.” He admits. “I need time away from the cards circuit to recoup my losses.”

Siwon laughs. “I’ll be surprised if you can get any of the people here to gamble with you Kyu.”

Kyuhyun’s smirk grows deeper. It’s a trademark look of his when he’s plotting something that benefits him more than anyone else in the area that he’s included into his schemes. “Oh, I’d almost bet there is one guy around here willing to bet at least a little something.”

Siwon shakes his head. “Alright. I can see you plotting something, Kyu.” He says laughing softly. “I think with you around, the town may just be a little less boring.”

The tiny town of Mamacita is more of a passing through kind of town nestled in between the capital city of Seoul and Yangjun. It doesn’t really serve a good purpose on the main roads between the two larger towns, unless someone happens to want a drink at Heechul’s bar as they pass through. Because the distance between the two larger towns is small enough to make day trips, Mamacita doesn’t even get the luxury of having an Inn where stragglers or guests can stay, so Kyuhyun’s forced to stable his horse in the Sheriff’s stables where Siwon’s horse is lazily staring over at Kyuhyun while the gambler takes care of his horse and tackle for the evening.

The office has 2 bedrooms and a kitchen attached opposite of where the jail cells are located, a design that allows for both the Sheriff and his deputy to cover watch duty whenever they have someone in the jail cells. Kyuhyun’s saddle bags are brought into the deputy room, which is spotlessly cleaned to perfection. Kyuhyun knows from previous times of staying with Siwon, before he’d become Sheriff of Mamacita, that the older man is not one for cleanliness or organization.

Those facts alone confirm to Kyuhyun that Siwon’s got entirely too much time on his hands. The smirk he’d had earlier returns. Things in Mamacita are going to be getting more interesting now that he’s there, and the best part of it all is that Siwon’s going to be so excited to actually have something to do soon, and for that Kyuhyun knows the idea he’s got brewing in his head will be worth it in the end.

Siwon’s busy putting up the new wanted posters over on the cork board when a knock sounds on the door to the office. “Come in!” Siwon calls out cheerfully, pinning the last poster up on the board before turning to greet the new visitor.

“Got some new fruit in from the dealer over in Yangju.” The smooth voice doesn’t match the face of the person standing in the doorway of the office. He’s got long blond hair that’s parted in the middle, and looks like he’s just gotten up out of bed with his tank top and pants that don’t quite reach his ankles.

The smell of earth wafts over and hits Kyuhyun strongly as he peaks his head out of his new bedroom, intrigued by the idea of new fruit. Siwon’s sighing and shaking his head. “I wish I could buy some off you Kangin. Fresh fruit sounds good right about now.”

Kyuhyun clears his throat, eyebrows raised. He’s in the mood for some fruit, depending on what this Kangin guy has to offer. “Hyung, I got it.” He says, coming out into the room fully.

Kyuhyun knows he’s dressed to impress the ladies at the card tables, but the look on Kangin’s face is priceless when he spots Kyuhyun in his suit. “Ah, Sheriff you didn’t tell me you hired a deputy!”

Kyuhyun’s forgotten he’s pinned his deputy star on his suit jacket, so he smiles and nods. “Cho Kyuhyun.” He says, bowing to Kangin in greeting.

“I’m Kim Youngwoon, but everyone calls me Kangin.” The man smiles, bowing back at Kyuhyun. “I own the general store in town.” He added before Kyuhyun could ask what he did in such a small town.

Kyuhyun nods, filing the information for later. “So what do you have for fruit?” The ride in from the city to the west hadn’t been long, but it had been dusty and dry.

Kangin’s face lights up. Waving his hand at Kyuhyun and Siwon to follow him outside, Kangin walks to a small hand drawn cart sitting next to the steps in what little shade the building provides over the walkway. “Watermelon is currently in season, so I have several nice ones.” He says proudly.

Kyuhyun isn’t overly fond of watermelon, but he sees Siwon’s eyes light up at the sight of the seeded fruit. “Hyung, you chose whatever fruit you want.”

Siwon looks over the cart, picking out a few small pieces of mango and eyes one of the smaller melons. “Today I think we should be good with these.” He raises the mangos at Kyuhyun.

After paying Kangin, and promising to buy a melon from him the next day if he has any left over, they sat in the overhang next to the door of the office to enjoy their treats.

“This is nice.” Kyuhyun commented as he finished the last of his mango. He didn’t feel any of the pressures to act a certain way, or time constraints to be at a certain table to play a round of cards by a certain time. He started to feel the deep-seated tensions of constantly being on the go start to fade as he sat with Siwon and enjoyed the lazy afternoon.


	2. Heechul's Bar

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's another chapter for you! Please let me know what you think :)

Across the way from the Sheriff’s office was Heechul’s bar, which was situated right next to Kim Ryeowook’s barber shop. Heechul never really liked Ryeowook, preferring the company of the saloon girl he employed over some of the others in the tiny town. Heechul only suffered Ryeowook’s presence because the man was good at being a Barber, and he’d rather spend his hard earned money in town than go to one of the other towns to get it cut. That and the simple fact was, Ryeowook enjoyed having a drink or two every night.

Heechul sighs, looking over at his pristine saloon with a touch of pride, and yet, a touch of sadness. He should be in one of the larger cities with his bar, but uprooting and moving out of Mamacita was expensive and he just barely had enough funds from the miserable lot of people that made up the town to keep his bar stocked with a good variety of alcohols to keep any visitors passing through the town satisfied into buying more than one drink.

“Hey, Heechul, I need to go out of town for a few days. Visit the parents.” His only saloon gal, Sally said as she came out of the back room, tying an apron around her dress, even though they both know this time of day meant only locals will come in for a drink.

Heechul knows he could probably make more money if he’d set up shop in a larger city like Yangju or Seoul, especially if Sally went with him, as she’s probably the only reason he still gets money from the locals. Sally’s not from Mamacita, which was a godsend for Heechul. He nods at Sally. “That’s fine. I was thinking of closing the bar for a few days and taking a trip up to Seoul myself.” He replied, wiping down the already pristine bar top.

Just about the time he figures Ryeowook will come into the bar for a drink after closing up his shop, the swinging saloon doors open, the sound alerting Heechul someone’s come in. “The usual Wookie?” Heechul asks, turning around and reaching for Ryeowook’s favorite liquor without looking up. He’s refused to oil the squeaky swinging doors for years now, preferring the sound to alert him to either a customer or a visitor.

“If Wookie is a drink and is the special of the day, then sure.” The unfamiliar male voice has a quality to it that reminds Heechul of his days as a kid when he’d go traveling with his dad to learn new drinks at other bars.

Looking up, Heechul’s surprised to see the tall male in a suit situating himself at one of the tables, a stack of cards already out and being shuffled in front of him. “You passing through?” Heechul asks, leaning on the bar top.

“Nope. Taking a respite here.” The man replies, frowning as he pulls out the first card and turns it over.

“Ah. Any particular drink you are fond of then?” Heechul asks. “I have a large stock even though we’re in a tiny town.” He adds to the stranger.

The stranger smirks and glances over at the impressive stock of liquor behind Heechul. “I’ll have ginger ale with a dash of vodka.” He tells Heechul. “If that’s not a problem for you to make.” He adds.

“No problem. I’m Kim Heechul by the way.” Heechul figures he might as well introduce himself to the stranger, especially if the man was staying in town. “Where are you staying?” He asks conversationally as he’s mixing the drink.

“I’m Cho Kyuhyun.” The man smiles at Heechul as he introduces himself, the quite atmosphere of the bar making it easy for them to carry on a conversation as he’s the only customer there. “I’m staying with an old friend.” He said in response to Heechul’s other question, though he purposely doesn’t mention Siwon. The scheme he’s brewing in the back of his mind being successful counts on no one in the town suspecting he’s Siwon’s new deputy. He’s told Siwon not to mention that fact to anyone who asks about Kyuhyun, claiming he wants to get a feel for the town and its residents before the news is made public.

While Heechul is making Kyuhyun’s drink, the gambler takes the quiet moment to scope out the bar. While it doesn’t look anything fancy, the fact that Heechul’s got some pretty expensive looking liquors stocked behind the bar doesn’t miss Kyuhyun’s eye. He also notes the fact that Heechul only employs one person, a young woman who doesn’t look like she’s from Mamacita.

Shuffling the deck in his hand, Kyuhyun hums his thanks as Heechul slides the drink onto the table, having left the area behind the bar empty for the moment.

“Is it usually this dead?” Kyuhyun asks conversationally while he finishes shuffling his deck.

Heechul nods. “If there aren’t any travelers on their way to Seoul, the locals come around once they are done closing up their shops or offices.” He looks at Kyuhyun with interest. “I wouldn’t be surprised if you get bombarded by the locals. It’s rare we have anyone who comes in from out of town this late that isn’t family or friends.” He warns.

Kyuhyun nods. “I expect that will be the case.” He agrees.

The swinging doors sound a moment later, admitting the slightly later than usual Ryeowook, whose accompanied by the local blacksmith, Shindong. Heechul leaves Kyuhyun alone to go mix drinks for the two, leaving the gambler to his observations and thoughts.

Kyuhyun already knows that Kangin, the general store owner he’d met earlier when he was with Siwon, won’t be coming into the bar, having met the man earlier who said he was going to be heading to Seoul to pick up some things.

Just thinking of Kangin makes Kyuhyun smirk. He’s got big plans for the poor general store owner if his hunch is correct. There’s something that Kyuhyun hadn’t told Siwon earlier about one particular wanted outlaw in that stack of posters.

Thief Leeteuk had been spotted not too far from Mamacita, and the reports from those who’d interacted with the man without knowing he’s wanted for theft, had mentioned to Kyuhyun and the deputy he’d been training with that Leeteuk had specifically mentioned the tiny town as one of those that he’d planned on taking a short break at.

Kyuhyun’s 99.9% sure that Leeteuk’s been planning his thefts with someone who’s got more brains than him. It’s rare that a thief can get away from capture for more than a few months, but Leeteuk’s been on a streak that has outlasted all the others, and for this the Department of Justice in Seoul had to put the thief on the wanted list.

As Kyuhyun take a sip of the drink, humming appreciatively at how well Heechul’s mixed it, he watches the interactions between the 3 males in the bar. He doesn’t even register that Sally is in the room until she slides up next to him, a pretty smile on her face. “Heechul said you’re new in town?” She practically purred.

Kyuhyun’s hands falter a little with the slight quell of seduction evident in her voice. “Yup. Taking a much needed vacation from the cards circuit.” He drawls, changing up his voice a little to sound worldlier than he really is. He’s pulled this trick on a number of girls in the past when they hang on him after a big win.

Sally sits down, knowing Heechul won’t care since he’s taking care of Shindong and Ryeowook. She introduces herself to Kyuhyun, smiling prettily at him when he replies with his own introduction politely, though they both know he doesn’t have to. By the time Kyuhyun leaves the bar later, every resident in Mamacita will know his name and occupation thanks to Heechul.

Heechul plays the good bartender to his friends, unaware that they are all being watched from outside the bar.


	3. Sungmin and the Bank

After an uneventful night of observation in Heechul’s bar, Kyuhyun makes sure to act like he’s heading towards the houses on the outskirts of town where most of the residents live in Mamacita. After ensuring that no one has followed him, he doubles back behind the buildings on the same side of the street that the Sheriff’s office is on.

Kyuhyun had spotted the shadowy figure lurking around the doorway of the bar, and while he knows he can’t get a good look at the person’s face, his gut instinct tells him that it’s Leeteuk. Though whomever he’s watching, that is something Kyuhyun has yet to figure out. Thankfully his list of possible suspects are limited to the 7 or 8 people in the bar that night.

Siwon knew that Kyuhyun would most likely be late, and therefore wasn’t bothered when the younger man cursed after running into a doorframe in the darkened office. Before Kyuhyun drifts off to sleep on the surprisingly comfortable and soft mattress in his new room, he jots down the list of people who’d been in the bar.

The next morning finds Siwon cooking a small breakfast of eggs and bacon for the two of them as Kyuhyun drags himself out of bed.

“So what’s your plan for today?” Siwon’s going to be working on the stables later, the task annoying, but customary since they have horses. Siwon wishes for the day he has enough money to comfortably live and have someone else to do such mundane and dirty work.

Kyuhyun inhales the coffee Siwon puts down in front of him. “I may wander over to the Barbershop, get a haircut from Ryeowook and get the gossip of the town.” He tells Siwon around a bite of his eggs.

Siwon nods as he sets down to eat his own breakfast. “I wanted to introduce you to our resident banker, Lee Sungmin later today.” He said after taking a bite. “If anything were to happen here in town, he’d be the one they’d probably target if they are thieves.”

Kyuhyun nods. “What time?”

“About 2 o’clock.” Siwon tells him. “It’s the best time to get together, much like yesterday was. Not too many people out and about at that time of day.”

Kyuhyun knows it’s because of the dry heat that Mamacita seems to keep. He’s already missing the comforts of being in a larger city where there could be cold spots in the middle of the day, a result of areas of the city not seeing any sunlight for most of the summer months.  “Sounds good.” He agrees. The less people who knew where he was staying, the better.

A part of Kyuhyun admittedly feels guilty for not sharing his scheme with Siwon, but he’s banking on the sad fact that the older man sometimes is a bit trigger happy and a little less controllable when he’s in on something that could have a good outcome.

Finishing his breakfast, Kyuhyun proceeds to place his dishes in the sink, wondering if Siwon wants him to do dishes since the elder cooked for them. He’s about to turn around and ask when there’s a knock at the office door.

Siwon stops mid scoop of eggs, sighing and setting his fork down to answer the door. “Yes?”

“Hi, are you Sheriff Choi?” A slightly deeper male voice asks, not in the least bit shy about sounding enthusiastic.

“That I am. What brings a young strapping man knocking on the Sheriff’s door this early in the morning?” Siwon chuckles.

“Oh, my names Lee Donghae. I’m a bounty hunter and passing through Mamacita looking for some outlaws and I thought I’d stop by and introduce myself.”

Kyuhyun peeks around the corner, shock filtering across his face at the look of the bounty hunter. Lee Donghae’s wearing a dark Stetson hat, black trenchcoat that barely comes to his knees and boots that look too soft to be wearing, especially for his profession. His gun is holstered outside of his trenchcoat, making Kyuhyun wonder if he’s new to the idea of bounty hunting until Siwon makes a humming noise.

“Lee Donghae? Did you nab that one outlaw in Seoul last month that had been going around to the brothels posing as a female saloon girl stealing customer’s money?” Siwon asks, gesturing for the man to come inside.

“The one and only!” Donghae smiles proudly. “I see you have the latest wanted posters.” He says, going over to the cork board and studying them.

“Any particular guy you are trying to get?” Siwon asks conversationally, turning and smiling at Kyuhyun, waving him towards where they are standing.

“Park Jungsu.” Donghae admits, pointing up at the first poster on the board. “He’s got quite the reputation for being a measly thief.” The bounty hunter sighs, turning and catching Kyuhyun out of the corner of his eye. “Who’s this?”

“Cho Kyuhyun, he’s my deputy.” Siwon says.

“The card player?” Donghae’s eyebrows raise in confusion.

“Master Gambler to you.” Kyuhyun bows. “I’m taking a small break from the circuit to help Siwon out with some potential wanted criminals that are rumored to be coming through this area.”

Donghae nods, eyes still disbelieving that a gambler would be a deputy in such a tiny town. “Well I hope we all can work together to nab some of these criminals.” He says politely.

Kyuhyun nods as Siwon laughs. “Enough talk of business. Is there anything else I can do for you?”

Donghae’s mumbling some half-assed answer as Kyuhyun makes his way over to the coat stand where his jacket is. “Hyung, I’m going to go see Ryeowook now, if you don’t need me.” He says in the small pause of their conversation.

“Ok. Remember to be at the bank by 2.” Siwon says, waving him off.

Luckily it was early enough in the morning that Kyuhyun can sneak off towards the residential part of town and act like he’s just come out for a morning stroll. Ryeowook is just opening his barber shop as Kyuhyun strolls up. “Heya Ryeowook.” He greets the feminine looking man.

“Oh, um, Mr. Cho.” Ryeowook seems a bit skittish at being called out suddenly.

“Call me Kyuhyun, please.” Kyuhyun smiles down at the older man. “I’ll be staying in town for a while and was hoping to get a haircut this morning.”

“Sure thing!” Ryeowook smiles. “Give me a few minutes to set things up.”

Kyuhyun glances around the small shop, observing the simplistic style that Ryeowook has kept consistently throughout the shop. Most barber shops he’s seen in the city were either simple and didn’t make a lot of money, or flashy and constantly busy.

It didn’t help that recently some Korean star had decided to try some newfangled thing called hair dye and had spawned a wave of fans who’d insisted upon trying the same thing a week later.

Ryeowook calls Kyuhyun over and starts asking him what he wants for a haircut. “Trim up all around.”

The Barber gets to work, settling into his familiar routine and starts to make small talk to Kyuhyun as he works. Kyuhyun gets more town gossip in the 30 minutes he’s with Ryeowook than he had expected.

After a mostly uneventful morning, sitting outside Heechul’s bar after his haircut, Kyuhyun shuffling his deck of cards when Ryeowook comes over and plops down in the chair across from him. “Care to teach me how to play cards?” He asks. “I’ve wanted to learn, but no one here knows how.”

Kyuhyun smiles and a new found friendship is formed that morning, with Ryeowook catching on quicker than expected to the card games that Kyuhyun introduces him to. By the time Ryeowook has another customer, it’s nearly 2 in the afternoon and Kyuhyun tells Ryeowook that he’ll be back soon.

Siwon’s chatting happily with Sungmin when Kyuhyun walks into the bank. It’s a small bank, one that’s definitely not made for holding lots of valuables and by the looks of the wagon outside, it’s more than likely Sungmin’s more into overseeing transportation of any major valuables that can’t be stored in the banks seemingly tiny vault.

Sungmin’s a quiet man, his dark hair almost covering his spectacle covered eyes. A fringe across his forehead is unnaturally silvery blonde, making Kyuhyun wonder if the poor man had been in some sort of chemical accident recently.

“If you are wondering, the blonde streak in my hair is something I’ve had from birth.” Sungmin explains as he finishes showing Kyuhyun around the tiny bank. He pulls up his hair and shows off the thin line where his blond hair grows out, the scalp of the area discolored from the rest. “They call it a birthmark I guess.”

Kyuhyun nods. “Well it looks good on you.” He says, trying hard not to be mean to the man. He already figures that Sungmin’s smart enough to be trusted with his plans.

Once Siwon leaves, Kyuhyun sits Sungmin down and explains his idea to the banker, finding that his hunch is correct. Apparently some of Sungmin’s acquaintances had been victims of Leeteuk recently and he wants a chance to help nab the thief.

“I have a shipment leaving in a week or so of some valuables that had been stored here. Some silly little crown and other trinkets.” Sungmin shows Kyuhyun the crown, which is kept in a small brown box with a metal lock for which Sungmin keeps the key on him.

Plans are made and details are hashed out relatively quickly in the waning afternoon. By the time Kyuhyun makes it back to Heechul’s, Ryeowook’s already closed up shop and is sitting outside. The weather has turned a bit cooler in the afternoon, so the residents of Mamacita take advantage of it.

Kyuhyun’s startled by the blonde man in a matador’s outfit walking down the street with a red sheet pulled over a rod and followed by several young women. “That’s Eunhyuk.” Ryeowook informs Kyuhyun as the gambler stares at the man in the street. “He thinks he’s going to become some famous bull master by waving that red sheet around.”

A smirk ghosts across Kyuhyun’s face as he realizes this Eunhyuk could become part of his plans as a distraction in some way. He needs a few more players, namely the thief, the mastermind and any other accomplices the two may have. Kyuhyun knows that his plan could fail as much as it could succeed. “Well, with all the girls in town fawning over him, I’m sure he’ll make a good bullfighter.” He jokes.

Ryeowook cracks a smile at the joke as they settle down for another afternoon card game.


	4. The Plan and Park Jungsu

Park Jungsu was normally a patient man, but this time, he was starting to get irritated. His last job had been almost a month ago, and he’s getting low on supplies in his small hideout south of Mamacita in an off the beaten trail hunting cabin that hadn’t seen an inhabitant for several years.

“Damn that man.” He grumbles, kicking at an empty box that had once held firewood. As much as it gets hot in the summer in this county, he’s got to deal with an old wood stove to use for cooking instead of the newer gas models that are becoming standard. Stomach growling, Jungsu picks through the pile of boxes and sighs as the only thing he can find left is some ramen that he’s been loath to eat because it requires hot water.

Just as he’s about to light the stove to boil water for the ramen, his stomach protesting loudly at him for being empty, a series of knocks on the door alerted him to his benefactor finally showing up, 2 days later than expected.

“Bout time you got here.” Jungsu grumbled, opening up the door to him.

“Hey, a bar doesn’t run itself now does it?” Heechul grumbled, shoving a heavy box into Jungu’s arms. “Here is one box of supplies.” He grabbed another box that was at his feet.

“You couldn’t bring any more?” Jungsu’s pulling the makings for a sandwich out of the bag that’s packed full of cold items and had been hidden under some other things.

Heechul huffed. “You’re welcome.” He grumbled. “No. I couldn’t risk bringing any more this time. We got a visitor in town that’s taking a vacation from gambling, and I don’t know how he goes with the law quite yet.” He explains to Jungsu, pulling the empty boxes away from the wall to set the new ones down. “That and it’s been slower than normal at the bar because of the heat so I don’t have as much to spare right now.”

Jungsu nodded as he placed the remaining cold items back into the bag and placed it into the small icebox he’s managed to keep cold despite the hotter than normal summer. “So, you said there was a visiting vacationer in town? Are you sure he’s not a bounty hunter?”

“I’m sure he’s not a bounty hunter. We did have one show up the day after the gambler showed up, but he was just visiting on his way through to Yangju.” Heechul replied. “Sally got some information out of the man and I think he could be useful.”

Jungsu sighed blissfully as he bit into his sandwich, the action causing him to slink down into a chair before registering what Heechul had said. “Do you think he’s a rogue gambler who’s hiding from the law?” He asks around his food.

Heechul’s face twists into an odd combination of amusement and disgust. “Please, finish your bite before you speak.” He groans. “The way Sally has it, the gambler’s been in a bit of a bad streak recently and decided to get away from the gambling circuits to recoup his losses.” He shifted positions, a sign that he had a plan he wanted to discuss before he left for the day.

“What’s the plan you are thinking of?” Jungsu asked as he swallowed the last bit of his sandwich. He’d scarfed the thing down so fast he’s surprised he hadn’t choked on it.

Heechul smiled. “Since the bar has been lacking in business lately, I was thinking that you could make an appearance in Mamacita while I’m out of town and try to rob the bar. Let yourself get captured, and that idiot of a Sheriff will celebrate so much that he’ll spend every bit of his recent reward money at the bar buying shots for the townspeople. In the meantime, while everyone is busy getting drunk, Shindong is going to bail you out of the jail and then the Sheriff will be heartbroken and broke, while I’ll be able to pay off the last bit of debt I owe to my uncle in Seoul.” He started.

Jungsu smiled, the plan perfect in his eyes. Heechul paying off his uncle will mean that Jungsu can hide on the second floor of the bar instead of the tiny cabin without fear of being caught. “When do I start?”


	5. The First Capture

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize, I intended for this chapter to be done and uploaded by Thursday evening, but I had clinical that morning and was so tired that my brain didn't want to cooperate with me on editing and then Friday I had a convention staff meeting after school that ran later than expected and so here's the update. Let me know what you think!

Playing cards with Ryeowook when he didn’t have any customers at his shop turned into a routine that Kyuhyun was grateful for a few weeks later. It’s been nearly a month since he’s arrived in Mamacita now, and any news on the outlaws they are trying to catch has been scarce.

It seems that Leeteuk’s laid low the past month as well, which made some of the other counties law enforcement wonder if the thief had been captured, but telegraphs sent to many of the other sheriff offices come back negative. Leeteuk’s either laying low till the heat of his arrest warrant dies off, or he’s planning something that requires time for him to make his move.

Kyuhyun’s taken to wearing just his casual clothing while he’s out and about, especially since he’s only got a few suits that he wants to keep clean and intact. Even Siwon’s taken to not wearing his tan jacket when he’s sitting outside watching the world go by as he’s polishing his guns.

It’s kind of ironic that they managed to capture Leeteuk at all when the thief breaks into Heechul’s bar a few nights before Kyuhyun’s about ready to give up on his grand scheme to capture the outlaw.

It’s also sort of funny that Leeteuk goes along with his arrest, smiling and chatty as he’s booked by Siwon and placed behind bars with most of his personal possessions on him. Siwon’s confident that the thief doesn’t have anything on his person that could help him escape the small jail cell that he’s being held in, the small room doesn’t even have a window, so he can’t communicate with any accomplices without their knowledge.

Heechul’s upset, as any good citizen should be, that his bar had been targeted by the thief while he and Sally had gone to Seoul on personal business, and wants a good reason why Leeteuk would think his bar had anything valuable worth stealing.

“He’s not giving a reason other than he’s a thief, and a bar would be a good place to steal from since it’s always got a customer.” Siwon replies to Heechul’s demands for an explanation.

Kyuhyun is wise to stay away from Siwon and the office for a few days after that, opting to introduce himself to Eunhyuk and ask him for a place to stay for a week claiming he’d been renting the deputy room from Siwon and now that the man has a criminal behind bars, Kyuhyun feints fear at being in such a close proximity to a thief.

Eunhyuk agrees quickly, sympathizing with Kyuhyun once he finds out the younger man is taking a vacation from the gambling circuit. While Siwon’s busy dealing with Heechul and watching Leeteuk, Kyuhyun meets up with Sungmin again, finalizing plans for the eventual escape that they both know Leeteuk will attempt in order to steal the jeweled crown that Sungmin finally has orders to be shipped off to Seoul to its intended resting place. Sungmin’s worried that if things go horribly wrong, the crown really will be stolen and he’ll be out of a job and barred from banking ever again.

“Don’t worry hyung.” Kyuhyun promises, a soft smile on his face, one that is completely genuine. “I will make damn sure that you won’t lose your livelihood.”

Kyuhyun’s got a hunch that Leeteuk’s accomplices are hiding in plain sight and after eliminating most of the people on his original list of suspects, he’s down to 3. It could be Heechul, the man was overly upset about his bar being hit too conveniently while he’s been gone to Seoul, or it could be Shindong, the local blacksmith whose been forced to take out a couple of loans for materials to be able to finish outstanding customer orders, or it could be Heechul’s saloon girl Sally, who’d been sighing softly over the fact her parents want her to settle down, get married and not worry about being independent. (Kyuhyun _may_ have gotten a little too friendly with her recently after more than one drink.)

Siwon’s been beside himself with pride at capturing the thief and has been buying shots for everyone at the bar later on that night, causing the majority of the people in the town to be at Heechul’s bar, not even noticing that there are 2 people missing from the crowd that gathers around the man of the hour.

Kyuhyun’s busy staking out the Sheriff’s office from beside the bar, which he’d noticed had undergone a small name change since Heechul’s been back. He wonders suddenly if Heechul had sold the bar in order to gain money, but then dismisses it a moment later. Heechul wouldn’t have gotten as upset as he had if he’d sold it to another person.

Kyuhyun’s sent off a telegraph to a friend to dig up information on Heechul, even though the man claims to have been born and raised in Mamacita. After a few hours of waiting, and hearing those in the bar getting drunk as Siwon spends more money on celebrating his catch, Kyuhyun spots a not so small frame slinking around the side of the Sheriff’s office.

‘I knew it!’ Kyuhyun thinks as he smirks in the darkness as he gets a glimpse of red hair on the back of a head from the small patch of light that comes from the bar. It could only mean the blacksmith was Leeteuk’s accomplice. He watches as Shindong goes up to the door, jiggles the lock that Siwon’s clearly placed on it to help keep Leeteuk in, and visitors out while he’s buying shots and then looks around to see if anyone’s outside.

Kyuhyun mentally cheers in success at figuring out an accomplice when Shindong then pulls something out of his pocket, and the lock on the door falls away. ‘No surprise there, he’s probably got the master keys for the entire town.’ Kyuhyun mentally snorts at how stupid Shindong really was.

Surprisingly, Shindong comes back out only a moment later, glancing around again suspiciously before shutting the door and placing the lock back on, the click audible amongst the muted noises coming from the bar. He then carefully walks away from the door, hands going to his pockets as he skirts around toward where his shop is and disappearing into the darkness.

Kyuhyun’s confused. Why would Shindong break into the office, only to come out a moment later? Sighing, Kyuhyun decides that since Shindong’s the only other person in town not at the bar, he can go into the bar and maybe have a drink, but decides against it as he yawns tiredly. Staking out a place to watch for criminal activity is more work than he realized.

Whatever Shindong did that night, nothing came out of it for a few days. Siwon’s been acting like a puffed up rooster, getting random pats on the back from local residents and some of the girls who fawn over Eunhyuk have even been flirting with the Sheriff.

For some reason on a particularly beautiful day in Mamacita, Kyuhyun’s wearing one of his suits while playing cards with Ryeowook. They’ve gotten in a nice routine by this point, and Kyuhyun’s gained a nice tidy sum of money from his stay, playing cards against many of the more adventurous residents of the town.

The sun isn’t very high in the sky, and the heat seems to have died down enough that many people are out and about in Mamacita, and even Kangin is busy selling some new fruits to locals when Siwon comes out of the office, a smile on his face. He saunters over to where Kyuhyun and Ryeowook are sitting, twirling a piece of moustache between his fingers. “So, tomorrow is the day that Leeteuk gets shipped off to the county where he first committed his crimes.” Siwon says conversationally to Kyuhyun.

Ryeowook’s gotten used to the Sheriff coming over to chitchat with the gambler, not realizing that the man is a deputy. Kyuhyun’s told Siwon a little bit of his plan, and why he’s acting like he’s not close to the older man, and Siwon’s agreed that it’s best not to get all the residents in Mamacita up in a fit because the town suddenly had gotten a deputy.

No one except Kyuhyun notices when a shadowy figure slips out of the Sheriff’s office while Siwon’s back is turned, busy chatting with Kyuhyun and Ryeowook at the table in front of Heechul’s bar.

Siwon’s sitting over in the shade later in the day, contemplating on if he wants to give Leeteuk a meal for lunch or not when the local newspaper comes around. On the front of the page, in big bold letters is ‘Breaking News!’ with the heading underneath it ‘Sheriff failed catching thief!’ and a picture snapped of Leeteuk giving a peace sign as he tilts his head into the camera shot, blocking what Siwon can see is a view of Ryeowook’s barber shop, and the table where Kyuhyun and Ryeowook play cards.

Siwon jumps up, eyes wide and scrambles into the office, and issues a strangled grunt as he spots the cell where Leeteuk had been sitting empty, the door wide open. Racing outside, Siwon looks up and down the street before looking at the picture on the newspaper again, and realizing that it had probably been taken earlier that morning while he’d been preoccupied with other matters (namely flirting shamelessly with one of the girls who followed Eunhyuk around), or when he’d been talking with his deputy.

Siwon stares, dumbfounded as he realizes that his one chance at getting a decent wage to afford something nice is gone as he is spotted by two girls, who stare at him and start whispering as they walk by.

‘Shit, that news is spread all around town now.’ Siwon mentally groans, trying to express himself wordlessly as he gets stares and looks that convey shame and distrust on him.

Without another word, he gets up and slinks over to Heechul’s bar. “Give me a shot.” He demands, his voice gruff with unshed emotions.

Heechul gives Sally a look as she pours a shot for Siwon. “What’s wrong my criminal chasing friend?” He asks.

Siwon stares over at Heechul in disbelief before he breaks down and tells the younger man about the jail break.

Meanwhile, Kyuhyun had snuck over to Sungmin’s bank, telling him the plan was a go in hushed whispers, as the banker points to his right breast pocket to nonverbally tell Kyuhyun where the key to the box that the crown will be kept in during transport is. He’s already seen Siwon in the bar drinking so this next step will be interesting to watch.

“I almost bet that Leeteuk’s got another plan involved because Shindong’s the only person who must have given him a copy of the key to the cell.” Kyuhyun confides in Sungmin. “This is where things get crucial. If he’s going to hit the bank, you need to show off the crown as if it’s the most beautiful thing in the world, the most precious and set it into the box before placing it in the wagon for transport.” Kyuhyun says.

Sungmin’s eyes light up. “I can do that. The crown really is a work of beauty to be admired.” He replies, a smile on his face.

“Good.” Kyuhyun glances around before bidding the banker good afternoon before heading back to the table. Ryeowook had gotten a couple of customers when Siwon had come to the bar. Kyuhyun settles down just as Ryeowook comes out of his barber shop, waving at the customer as he leaves before heading over and settling down to finish their game of cards.


	6. Theft and Blackmail

Jungsu hides behind the back of the bar, careful not to be seen by anyone as Heechul had instructed. He’s glad to be out of the jail cell, and equally as glad that they’d gotten Shindong into the plan to break him out.

Shindong’s starting to become desperate to pay back his loans for his blacksmithing shop only because he’s been thinking about giving it up and he’s rather be debt free when he sells the shop so the money can be used to move to Seoul.

Heechul had figured out Shindong’s predicament the week he’d left for Seoul to give his uncle his monthly payment on the loan for his bar, which is how he’d roped the blacksmith into helping him and Jungsu out for their plan to get the bar some business. Heechul’s got enough money now that he can pay off his uncle, and possibly find a new bar establishment in Seoul that he can put a down payment on and get the heck out of Mamacita.

Jungsu’s about ready to dart across the street to the blacksmith’s shop when he spots something sparkly and shiny out of the corner of his eye. It’s the banker with something in his hands, a smile on his face and a glazed out glint in his eyes as he holds up a bejeweled crown in front of his face.

Jungsu’s suddenly thankfully his eyes like to roam as he stands at the mouth of the alley in between the barber shop and the bar, staring at the crown in Sungmin’s hands as the banker walks down the step to the ground from the bank. Seeing the idiotic bull fighter that Heechul always complains about standing in front of the barber shop, Jungsu pulls the small guitar off his back, thankful he’s got a new poncho and hat to blend into the small population of Mamacita.

Strumming the guitar softly, he starts walking to the front of the alley, carefully hiding his body from the open door of the Sheriff’s office not knowing that Siwon’s actually in the bar getting drunk. He can hear the girl that’s with the bull fighter oohing and aahing over the man as he attempts to look stunning as he throws the red sheet around. The sounds of cards being dealt and murmurs of a cards game going on his left doesn’t distract Jungsu from the shiny that is practically blinding him.

Sungmin twirls around in a circle with the crown in his hands, the wagon that he’s going to use to transport the bank shipment ready for him to place the crown into its box. As he spots Kyuhyun and Ryeowook playing a new card game, the strumming of a guitar sounds softly over the strikes of the hammer of Shindong at his forge. Sungmin glances up to see the thief that Kyuhyun had told him about, standing at the mouth of the alley, eyes transfixed on the crown in Sungmin’s hands as he twirls around once more to get the glint of the sunlight glaring off the jewels. ‘Well, I guess here’s where things get tricky.’ Sungmin thinks as he places the crown into the box.

Jungsu’s gotten Shindong’s attention with strumming his guitar, and he points to the wagon, giving Shindong a thumbs up and a huge grin as he wipes the drool that’s apparently shown up on his chin. The blacksmith gives him the ok signal and stops pounding on the horse shoe he’s making at the forge, walking casually over towards the wagon, and spotting the crown as Sungmin places it into the box.

Two of the local girls who aren’t staring at the bullfighter wander down the street in front of Shindong as he goes over to distract Sungmin so Jungsu can steal the shiny crown and run away safely.

“Hey.” Shindong pats Sungmin on the shoulder, walking over to one of the wheels on the wagon. “I think you have something wrong here.” He says to the banker, motioning him close as he points at the spoke of the wheel.

“Where?” Sungmin goes over to Shindong, getting crowded away from the gate of the wagon as Shindong bends him over to inspect the spoke.

Shindong bends Sungmin over the spoke, holding the man down a little as Jungsu stares on, anxious and almost half starting toward the wagon. “Here.” Shindong says, pushing Sungmin’s face closer to the wheel, while waving Jungsu over from side.

Jungsu starts sprinting toward the wagon, tripping over his own feet in his haste to get to the crown to steal it before he gets caught. Grabbing the box that holds the crown, Jungsu takes off with it as Shindong pulls Sungmin into a choke hold, the banker attempting to stop the thief from stealing the box.

Shindong holds the petite banker easily with one hand, the other reaching for the small hammer on his belt and knocking the banker out with a light tap to his head. Well, for Shindong it was light, but it was enough to stun the smaller man. The banker falls down as Ryeowook jumps up from across the dusty street and Shindong runs off away from the scene.

Siwon’s downing another shot and making Heechul take a shot with him when the disgruntled and downtrodden Sheriff grabs the star off his jacket, ready to fling the piece of metal away from his body. Heechul’s trying to console Siwon when suddenly they both hear screaming from outside the bar.

“Sheriff!” Ryeowook is yelling towards the entrance of the bar, his hand pointing to where Sungmin’s sprawled out on the dusty street, the back of the wagon open. “Hey! Sheriff!”

Siwon stares at the star that marks his office for a moment, hearing the screams of Ryeowook and steeling his resolve, jams the badge back on his jacket, and races outside, adrenaline overriding the alcohol in his system.

Kyuhyun is still sitting passively in the chair as Ryeowook flings his hand toward Sungmin, and Siwon’s eyes widen at the sight of the banker out cold on the ground. Without even thinking about questioning Ryeowook, Siwon races over to Sungmin’s prone body, shakes him for a moment to confirm the man is passed out and races off down the street where he can see a set of tracks and what looks like remnants of a broken watermelon.

Kyuhyun eyes Siwon as the Sheriff takes off, then saunters over to Sungmin, taking care that no one really sees him reaching into the unconscious man’s right breast pocket and pulling the key to the crown’s trunk out.

“What did you just do?” Ryeowook gasps as Kyuhyun comes back, a smile on his face and shuffling the cards in his hands.

“I’m ensuring that Sungmin will get his property back.” Kyuhyun’s decided now is a good time to tell the poor Barber that he’s Siwon’s deputy, being careful not to speak too loudly.

Eunhyuk’s still showing off to his lady friend, and Shindong’s raced off to hide, no doubt scared that Kyuhyun or Ryeowook are going to find him. Kyuhyun’s 99% sure that Heechul’s probably working off the alcohol that he’s drunk with Siwon, and Kangin’s nowhere to be seen in the street next to his fruit cart.

Once Kyuhyun finishes swearing Ryeowook to secrecy, he sneaks off in search of the blacksmith, intending to find a way to get in on the deal he has with Leeteuk.

Kangin’s sitting in front of his shop, smiling and happily cleaning around his fruit cart, chasing away bugs and other vermin from getting to his fruit as he’s moving around the cart with a perfectly good watermelon that he wants to keep for himself. It’s rare that he has more than one melon this month as the selection in Seoul hadn’t been so good.

Suddenly he feels a hard push and someone scrambling to keep their balance and grab onto whatever they were holding from crashing to the ground as Kangin watches helplessly as the watermelon he’d been holding goes into pieces on the dusty street.

“Hey!” Kangin shouts, as the man runs over his watermelon with a panicked face and continues down the street. “Awe no that was a perfectly good watermelon!”

Siwon should be surprised that Kangin’s throwing a temper tantrum in the street next to a smashed watermelon as he sees Leeteuk vanishing around a corner, but is surprised when the man gets up and starts chasing after the thief.

“Go away!” The blacksmith’s voice is clearly recognizable as the knocking persisted on his doorstep. He’s hiding in his house, scared he’ll be arrested for aiding Jungsu as the theft happened in broad daylight, in front of witnesses and he’s pretty sure that Kyuhyun’s been watching him for a while. He’s been wary of the gambler since the man came into town a month ago.

“Donghee it’s me.” The familiar soothing voice of Jungsu calls out softly. “Let me in!”

Shindong’s not surprised that Jungsu knows his real name. Heechul must have let it slip at some point in his talks with the thief. Opening the door, he’s shoved aside as Jungsu practically flies into the living room, his hands empty.

“Where’s the box….” Shindong’s voice trails off as a tall shadow falls across the floor.

“Yes, where is the box?” Kyuhyun smirks, shuffling cards in his hands. “I saw what you did back there, Park Jungsu, aka Leeteuk the Thief, and Shin Donghee, aka Shindong the Blacksmith.” His smirk only grows wider as both Shindong and Jungsu cower before the intimidating gambler with the evil looking smirk on his face.

“What are you going to do about it?” Shindong asks more confidently than he currently feels.

“Why, I want in on your little plan for whatever is in the box.” Kyuhyun’s careful not to mention the item inside the box, pretending he’s only seen the theft and not Sungmin prancing around with the bejeweled item.

“What box?” Jungsu asks shakily, glancing at Shindong.

“That box you stole from the banker today.” Kyuhyun’s smirk is growing deeper by the second.

“What do we get in exchange for letting you in on our plans?” Shindong’s becoming unnerved by that smirk and it’s causing him to want to give into Kyuhyun’s demands.

“I won’t say a word to the town Sheriff about you being a wanted man’s accomplice.” Kyuhyun lies smoothly. He wouldn’t be a nation-wide famous gambler if he couldn’t bluff or lie without keeping a straight face. “Unless you want me to walk out this door right here and scream for him?” Kyuhyun steps back towards the door.

“NO!” Both Shindong and Jungsu leap for Kyuhyun, holding him in place as they sink to their knees. “We’ll let you in on our plans.” Shindong practically sobs as he holds tightly onto Kyuhyun’s pant leg.

“Good.” Kyuhyun relaxes the foot that was stepping towards the door and turns to smile at the two law breakers. “Let’s sit down and have a nice friendly conversation about these plans shall we?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you all are enjoying the story so far! I'd love to hear/read what you all think so far of the story no matter if it's good, bad, or indifferent.


	7. Breaking into the Box

Shindong goes back to working his forge the next day, and Jungsu stays in the blacksmith’s house, hiding low. Siwon’s beside himself with anger at the whole situation and Kyuhyun chooses to stay away from the Sheriff for the time being as Siwon’s been the only person ever in his entire life to call Kyuhyun’s bluffs and knows when the younger man is lying.

Siwon still won’t tell Kyuhyun what it is that tips him off to the younger’s lies and bluffs and it’s a sore point between the two friends. Ryeowook’s contently cleaning off some equipment in the afternoon after a particularly messy client when he spots a gaggle of the girls who usually follow Eunhyuk around sitting in front of the bank, all eyes focused on Kyuhyun as he’s doing some silly card tricks to please the girls.

Eunhyuk’s content to stand off in front of the Sheriff’s office, having already clued Kyuhyun that the bounty hunter Donghae’s back in town and Kyuhyun wants a clear distraction for when Shindong brings Jungsu and the box into his blacksmith shop to try and open it.

Kyuhyun hasn’t told them yet he has the key to the box, it’s one of the few key sets that Shindong doesn’t have access to from his set of molds.

Eunhyuk’s constant posturing of his moves for bull fighting is distracting Kyuhyun, who’s attempting to listen to the not so subtle conversation that Donghae and Siwon are having in the office, with Donghae apparently being very upset that Siwon’s let Jungsu get away.

The girls are oohing and aahing as Kyuhyun pulls out another card and plays silly magician with it, sucking the card to his lips. He feels awkward and a bit on the spot as he tries to come up with new ways to keep the girls entertained. The moment he waits for arrives as Donghae comes out of the office, the wanted poster in his hands of Jungsu and proceeds to go into bounty hunter mode.

Kyuhyun’s doing one more card trick for the girls when Donghae pulls on Eunhyuk’s foot, causing the bull fighter to come off balance. “Hey, have you seen this guy around town today?” Donghae asks, eyes wide as he points to the picture on the poster.

“Nope, haven’t seen him at all today.” Eunhyuk says.

“If you do see him, please tell the Sheriff or find me.” Donghae says as a man walking backwards who seems to be holding a box bumps into him.

“Hey, mister. Have you seen this guy? He’s wanted for theft.” Donghae asks, pointing at the picture as Eunhyuk turns to Kyuhyun and makes a motion with his fingers.

Jungsu plays his role well, pretending to not have seen the man in the picture, laughing and blinking his eyes like he doesn’t comprehend much and hasn’t really said a word to Donghae. Kyuhyun looks over, concern lacing his face as the whole plan to oust Jungsu’s mastermind partner could be derailed by the hotheaded bounty hunter.

Kyuhyun knows from interacting with Shindong the day before that the blacksmith isn’t the mastermind behind Jungsu, and so Kyuhyun’s hoping that he’ll get at least a bit of a lead on the other man before Jungsu’s arrested again.

Donghae’s telling Jungsu to get a hold of him if he spots the man when Jungsu panics, screams and runs away.

Donghae blinks, startled by the sudden scream and looks over at Eunhyuk before realizing that the man he’d just been talking too was in fact the man on the poster.

Kyuhyun’s so startled by Jungsu’s sudden scream, he throws a card out in front of the girls and as they follow the card, realize that Eunhyuk’s been in front of them and they run toward the man, inadvertently becoming a part of the distraction Kyuhyun’s set up as Donghae finishes putting two and two together.

Eunhyuk’s about to follow Donghae as the bounty hunter turns to chase after Jungsu, but the bull fighter is accosted by the girls as they start fawning over him and kissing him. Eunhyuk’s pretty much done as the distraction, Kyuhyun thinks as Donghae sprints past him.

Thankfully Jungsu’s got enough of a lead over the bounty hunter that he’s able to hide with the box before Shindong and Kyuhyun find him, carefully escorting him to the blacksmith’s shop.

Kyuhyun chooses to stand and stare off in the distance playing with his cards, getting a feel for being more dramatic while Shindong and Jungsu attempt to open the box.

“Yah, let’s use this.” Shindong tries to break the hinges off with a mallet, then cutting them with a pair of blacksmith scissors.

“No, no, no, let’s use this.” Jungsu points to the blowtorch, a tool that Shindong had recently purchased.  “Ooh that’s hot.” Jungsu laughs as Shindong blows on the fire over the box.

“Let’s try this.” Shindong grabs the metal shaver, attempting, and failing to break open the lid.

Nothing is working and Shindong and Jungsu are frustrated they won’t be able to get the crown out when suddenly Kyuhyun snaps out of his playing and pulls the key out of his pocket, opening the box up as he smirks.

“How?” Shindong’s eyes grow big as the crown is revealed.

“Oooh.” Jungsu’s eyes are practically bugging out of his head, his mouth open as Kyuhyun pulls the crown out, smirking as he holds it in the air before putting it back in the box and shuffling his cards in satisfaction.

Siwon’s gotten some random tip from one of the residents and has been running around the town trying to find Jungsu and has spotted Donghae hovering around the main part of town in case Jungsu makes a break for the main roads when Kyuhyun waves him over from one of the residential houses. “Hyung, I’ve got a plan.” He smiles at Siwon.

“What do you mean? I’m a bit busy trying to catch a thief.” Siwon snaps, patience gone.

“Oh, you’ll catch him alright. And you’ll catch the mastermind behind him.” Kyuhyun reveals.

Siwon stops, eyes twitching. “What do you mean?” He’s intrigued by what Kyuhyun’s just said.

“Jungsu’s not smart enough to have done all those jobs on his own.” Kyuhyun says. “I’m betting that there is someone behind him calling the shots. Oh and before I forget, they’ve managed to rope Shindong the blacksmith into their schemes too.”

“Shindong’s involved?!” Siwon whisper-shrieked in shock.

“He owes money to the bank. While I couldn’t get much detail out of them, I did blackmail them a little into letting me in on their plan.” Kyuhyun admits. “So far they’ve managed to get the box open, and I think they are going to try and take it to their master planner.”

“Who do you think it is?” Siwon’s known for a while now that Kyuhyun’s got a list of suspects for something, and if it’s a list of possible people behind Jungsu, then Siwon’s confident that Kyuhyun’s got a good hunch on who it is.

“Heechul.” Kyuhyun says, frowning. “But the thing is, Heechul’s as clean as a whistle. I had his background checked and the only thing he has is that he co-owns the bar with his uncle in Seoul and has been paying the man money from the bar in order to buy his uncles shares outright.”

“Do you think maybe Heechul wants whatever’s in the box so he can pay off the last bit of his uncle’s shares in the bar?” Siwon asks.

Kyuhyun smiles at the Sheriff. “Bingo.” He says, pointing at him. “That would be the missing piece I couldn’t figure out.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So far school isn't too bad, but we have had 2 quizzes and one exam so far and the homework load isn't too horrible (Yet). As much as I want to have chapter 8 edited for uploading by Sunday, I have a big exam coming up on Monday that I need to study for. And for any readers who are also reading Adaptation, I am working hard on the next chapter! 
> 
> Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and I'm grateful for the feedback so far! Keep the feedback coming folks!


	8. Siwon's Shot!

“Hey, we should get this over to Heechul.” Jungsu whispers to Shindong as they hide in a shed behind the barber shop with the box.

“Do you think Kyuhyun’s going to let us just hand this over to Heechul without getting his cut?” Shindong whispers.

They haven’t seen the gambler since he’d opened the lock up on the box, and left the key in the lock for them. Jungsu shrugs. “If we can get it to Heechul, we can tell him about the gambler and his blackmail. Maybe Heechul will figure out how to placate the man without causing a scene or something.” He whispers back.

They’d heard some footsteps not long after they’d hidden in the shed, so whispering was the only sure fire way they wouldn’t get caught before they got the crown to Heechul. After waiting for what seemed like forever, Shindong poked his head out of the shed, and then waved at Jungsu, who’s still holding the box, to follow him silently.

They barely get around the corner of Ryeowook’s barber shop when the audible click of a gun sounds in the unnatural stillness of the dusty main street. “Stop right there!” The bounty hunter shouts, gun pointed directly at them.

“Go. I got this.” Shindong’s determined to get Jungsu to Heechul so badly that he’s willing to risk his life for the money. The long handled hammer Shindong’s got in his hand is set on the ground.

“Be safe.” Jungsu crowds behind Shindong as he maneuvers Jungsu around Donghae, the blacksmith acting as a shield against the gun pointed at them.

Shindong feels more than hears Jungsu moving away from him as he spots Donghae shifting toward the outlaw. “Oh no you don’t.” Shindong growls at the bounty hunter, moving toward him in an effort to distract Donghae more from going after Jungsu.

Donghae blinks as Shindong grasps the end of the gun. “Go! Go!’ Shindong shouts to Jungsu, watching the man run off down the street with the box.

Ryeowook stares as the blacksmith and the bounty hunter are tugging back and forth on the gun blinking and almost screaming like a girl when Shindong manages to maneuver the gun pointing away from him, but off to where Ryeowook had been dusting off his outdoor washbasin. “Point that thing away from me!” He screeches at Donghae in shock.

“I’m trying!’ Donghae grits his teeth, his efforts to repoint the gun back at Shindong are failing only because the blacksmith is a lot stronger than he had figured until he jerks off to the side, reinitiating their tug and pull game some more.

“Yahh!!!” Ryeowook sees an opening to step in and help the bounty hunter out, screaming as he jumps in when Donghae manages to get the gun pointed at Shindong. The two men stumble over each other, surprised at the loud scream that emits from the petite man.

Shindong falls down on the dusty ground, paralyzed for a second as Ryeowook comes at him with his shaving cream brush. He’s suddenly surrounded by Donghae’s arms as the man grabs a hold of him, acting faster than the blacksmith so he doesn’t get away.

Ryeowook torments Shindong as Donghae’s got the gun pointed at the man’s head, laughing as Shindong shakes in terror at Ryeowook being so bold and aggressive.

“Alright!” Shindong screams. “I surrender!”

Siwon’s excited and anxious now that he’s talked to Kyuhyun and as he rounds the corner to the main street to Mamacita, he hears Shindong desperately yelling something about surrender. He skids to a halt in front of Ryeowook’s shop, surprised to see Shindong being held in the Barber’s outdoor chair, tied up with his arms behind him, and both Ryeowook and Donghae keeping the man agitated with one of the blow fans and the shaving cream brush.

“I see you have a handful there.” Siwon chuckles as he calmly saunters over to them.

“We got this Sheriff. You go find the thief.” Donghae tells him. “He ran off down the street towards the bar, but we didn’t see where he went because of this guy.” He blows another puff of air at the blacksmith, who shudders and growls at the sensation.

“Good.” Siwon nods. “I’m off!” He moves over to where Kyuhyun’s usual spot, surprised, but yet, not surprised the lanky gambler has managed to sneak back to his place without anyone else noticing him.

Kyuhyun nods at him, shuffling cards as one of the girls in town comes over to chat, apparently unphased by all the commotion. Heechul comes out of his bar, his rifle in his hand, and nods at Siwon. “No thief here so far.” He tells the older man, shouldering his gun. “I’m fully prepared to defend my property.” He adds as Sally walks out of the bar behind him.

Siwon nods, opening his mouth to tell Heechul to be extremely careful, knowing that Kyuhyun’s watching the bar owner like a hawk when he hears laughter across the street. “Yah!” Siwon rushes over to where a red sheet flaps in the wind.

Sungmin’s been in and out of the bank to check, double check and triple check the locks on his transport wagon since he’d woken up after Shindong had knocked him out. He still can’t believe the passive blacksmith was helping Leeteuk out.

Sungmin’s startled by the sudden commotion next to him, where Siwon’s accosted Eunhyuk. “Hey! You haven’t seen that thief around here, have you?” He growls.

“N-no Sheriff.” Eunhyuk stutters, shocked that Siwon’s manhandling him. He’s always been treated well by the older man, and this sudden change in behavior scares him.

“Gahh where are you!” Siwon screams suddenly, frustration at a breaking point as he suddenly shoots of his gun in the air over the buildings.

“Hey! Pabo!” A voice screams at Siwon from across the street.

Turning, Siwon sees the thief, sporting a sinister smile, holding the stolen box in one arm as he steps out from the alley in between Heechul’s bar and the general store.

Siwon steps toward the man, a cold chill running down his spine at the smile Leeteuk sports, eyes widening as the thief raises his right arm, a short pistol in his hand. Before anyone else can move, Leeteuk lets a shot off at the Sheriff, laughing as the shot hits the other man.

“Oh my god!” One of the girls scream as Siwon feels the bullet hit, his reflexes slowed by his frustration and the sudden appearance of Leeteuk.

Siwon looks up at the thief, who is still cackling madly as Siwon’s hand comes up to cover where he felt the bullet hit him. Leeteuk blows the smoke still coming off the short barrel of the gun as Siwon turns, a disbelieving look on his face as he falls backwards on the dusty street.

Donghae, Ryeowook and Shindong all stare at the scene, shock across their faces. Shindong can’t believe that he’d agreed to partner with a man who’d resort to murder to get money.

Heechul’s got his rifle pointed at the thief, though deep down inside he’s silently cheering Jungsu for altering their plan. If the Sheriff had gotten any wind of his plans to get that crown and move to Seoul, his days of freedom would be over.

Siwon’s eyes close as he goes down, pretty sure he’s dead and doesn’t even know it yet as Eunhyuk stares in disbelief at the scene that happened right in front of him. The lady he is with is turning her head, already crying and clinging to him.

Sungmin looks up at the moment he’d heard the gun shots from Siwon, only to see the box that Leeteuk stole under the man’s arm. He bites his fingers, wanting to rush over to the other man to steal his box back, and took a tentative step forward when Leeteuk raised that pistol and shot the Sheriff.

No one notices Kyuhyun shuffling his cards at the table, unfazed by the turn of events, a smirk on his face. He’s never seen Siwon get so worked up that the man can’t slingshot a gun into a suspect’s face before.

Leeteuk lets out one last laugh, turning and sauntering away from where he’d just shot Siwon, knowing that Heechul’s got his rifle trained on him. He’s 99% sure that the older man won’t shoot him.

Siwon’s eyes pop open the moment he realizes that he’s not dead and that he’s not even injured. He feels around the area he was sure he’d been hit in, finding his badge and pulling it off his coat. The star has a neat mark of a bullet on it, the metal bent backward where it had been hit.

“Holy shit.” The man mutters, realizing he’d really come close to death and that if it hadn’t been for the badge he’d been ready to throw away in Heechul’s bar the day before, he really would have been dead.

Without missing a beat, Siwon’s up, gun still in his hand as he glances around, and cautiously, but quickly sets off down the alley that Leeteuk had disappeared into.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long wait between updates. Monday and Tues were horrible days for me so by the time I realized I needed up upload here, it was already past midnight and I was exhausted after 2 days of little to no sleep.
> 
> I hope y'all enjoy, let me know what you think!
> 
> Also may have a giveaway coming up soon for my AO3 readers. Details to come on the next chapter!


	9. Catching the Mastermind

Jungsu ditches the gun as soon as he’s out of sight from the main street. “I can’t believe I just shot the Sheriff.” He says, a big grin spreading across his face.

He lays low, something he figured Heechul would insist upon, especially after shooting a lawman. Unfortunately his desire to get rid of the crown to Heechul and get the money the younger man has promised him outweighs his desire to keep himself safe.

It’s nearing the late afternoon when Jungsu creeps out of the alley next to Heechul’s bar, the main street of the town strangely empty and quiet. ‘ _Silly people probably hiding after what happened earlier.’_ Jungsu thinks.

Even Kyuhyun’s gone from his spot at the table in front of Heechul’s bar. Jungsu doesn’t feel the least bit of remorse for abandoning Shindong to that bounty hunter, and since Kyuhyun hadn’t bothered to come find him, or help him out before he’d resorted to violence, Jungsu’s quite sure that the tall gambler is bluffing on all of his threats.

Jungsu glances up and down the deserted main street, as he creeps slowly and quietly to the steps that lead up to the entrance to the bar. Cautiously he steps up onto the walkway, and is right at the swinging doors to the inside of the bar when he grins, excitement coursing through his veins.

Jungsu walks through the doors to Heechul’s bar, a smile on his face, the box held proudly in his hands. He’s made it, this final step before he can sneak off to the little shack he’d called home, gather his things and quietly disappear from the country.

“Hey Heechul, I have something for you.” Jungsu says proudly.

Heechul turns, Sally standing next to him. She’s known for a while now that Heechul has been helping someone in exchange for money, but she’d never expected it to be the infamous thief. She glances over at the man she thought she’d known and was suddenly glad she’d made Kyuhyun promise to tell Siwon that Heechul was up to something.

“Oh, Jungsu!” Heechul smiles.

“I’m here for my payment!” He sets the box down, laughter bubbling out of his chest as Heechul turns to him.

“Ah, so you are.” Heechul replies. “I promised you 1,000,000 won for this item didn’t I?”

“Ahh, no no no! Jungsu replies placing a hand over the box. “I think it was 2,000,000 won for this beauty!”

Heechul clears his throat at amount Jungsu has told him, turning and picking up the rifle he’d kept handy incase Jungsu had caused another scene. Heechul chuckles, knowing the outlaw has a thing about guns being pointed at him. “So, about that amount?”

He blows on the barrel of the rifle, and Jungsu starts laughing again after a moment. “Oh you are right! It was 1,000,000 won.” He says, turning the box, opening it to reveal the crown inside.

“Ooh this is it?” Heechul says softly, pulling the crown out so the jewels catch in the soft glow of the lanterns on the wall.

Jungsu’s eyes grow wide again at the sight of the bejeweled crown as Heechul glances over at Sally. She barely looks at the thing before she goes back to cleaning.

Heechul places the crown back in the box, and turns, reaching down and grabbing two sacks full of gold pieces. It’s not the won that Jungsu’s expecting, but Heechul has been carefully counting the gold he gets from customers and other business transactions in Seoul that he figures the amount is about the equivalent of 1,000,000 won.

Jungsu watches Heechul like a hawk, both men, and Sally unaware they are being watched carefully by two men hidden in the shadows. Heechul sets the bags of gold down on the bar, as Jungsu grins happily, giving 2 thumbs up to the older man.

Jungsu nods at Heechul, grabbing the bags, more laughter bubbling up out of his body as he realizes he’s really free and won’t have to deal with Heechul or stealing ever again. He’s got plans to make himself a nice life where it isn’t so damn hot in the summer and blistering cold in the winter.

Heechul looks over at Sally who’s shaking her head and frowning. “What?” Heechul mouths to her.

“He’s such a fool.” She mouths back, her fingers clenching the rag in her hands.

Meanwhile, Siwon is lurking outside of the bar, after being tipped off by Kyuhyun through Kangin that the thief had been spotted walking back towards the main street through the alley. He turns to watch the older man place the box he’d stolen onto the bar, the conversation between Heechul and Leeteuk barely audible even though he’s not far from the door.

Siwon nods as he watches Heechul pull out the bags, and Leeteuk grab them before he realizes that the man is going to be coming out of the bar any moment now and he needs to leave. ‘ _I’ve got you now, Park Jungsu.’_ Siwon thinks, turning and dashing through the alley next to the bar. He slips into the back of the bar where Kyuhyun lets him in. “You see the exchange?” Kyuhyun whispers.

“Yup. Saw the entire thing with both eyes wide open.” Siwon whispers back. “Let’s go burst some bubble eh?”

Jungsu does a little happy dance before he walks out of the doors, suddenly accosted by Donghae’s gun in his face. Shindong’s still tied up in ropes, and Ryeowook’s clutching the blacksmith’s other arm like the man is about to run away.

“Shit hyung, run!” Shindong screams at him as Jungsu stares in shock at the gun pointed in his face.

“Yah!” Kangin races up, fury all over his face. “You broke my precious watermelon!”

Sungmin’s standing there as well, finger pointed at the thief, who’s now panicking and surprised at Kangin’s sudden outburst. “Yah! You stole something from me!” Sungmin throws out to confuse and panic the man even more.

Jungsu turns from the accusations, intending to flee through the back entrance of Heechul’s bar when suddenly Siwon shoves through the doors, gun pointed at Heechul who’s got his hands up in surrender.

Jungsu leaps from the walkway, even more shocked that Heechul’s been caught by the Sheriff, falling down in his panicked state.

Kangin grabs him, forcing the thief up with strength that Jungsu didn’t think the skinny blond haired man had.

All Eunhyuk and the girls can do is stand off to the side, dancing and cheering that the thief has been caught. Siwon shoves Heechul down the steps to stand in front of Jungsu, and Sungmin grabs a hold of the bartender with satisfaction.

Before anything else can be said or done, a dark shadow comes out from behind Siwon, as the Sheriff stands proudly on the walkway. Kyuhyun walks out slowly into the crowd, face stoic as he hands the crown to Siwon.

Kyuhyun’s already thanked Sally for her cooperation in the whole matter, and Siwon’s promised that she’ll not be punished because she told them about the plan. Leeteuk watches in disbelief as Kyuhyun handed the crown to Siwon.

Kyuhyun smirks, pulling out his right hand and showing off the deputy star he had received as a mark of his office. Gasps were audibly heard from the crowd as those who didn’t know Kyuhyun was also a law man saw the evidence of his position as he stands next to Siwon.

“Oh my god!” Jungsu’s the loudest of the gasps, with Kangin turning to keep the struggling thief in line.

Kyuhyun places the star on his coat jacket, smiling as Siwon shows off the crown before handing it over to Sungmin.

“It looks intact.” Sungmin smiles, glad to see the crown back safely in his hands. “Thank you Sheriff for saving my precious cargo, and thank you Kyuhyun for all your hard work!”

Jungsu’s still babbling incoherently in shock over the whole thing and Kangin has to slap the man to bring him back to his senses.

Heechul stares at Jungsu in quiet anger as Donghae smirks and points his gun back at Shindong, who’s angry enough to struggle earnestly. “Let me at that lousy excuse for a thief!” He shouts.

Kyuhyun’s shuffling his cards in his hands again, a smile on his face at all the commotion in the main street. The mastermind behind the thief has been caught and he’s sure Siwon’s going to get a nice reward for all 3 captures.

The others set to work getting Jungsu, Heechul and Shindong tied up as Donghae smiles over at Ryeowook. “I could use a haircut. What do you say?”

“Come right this way!” Ryeowook smiles.

Siwon holds the crown in his hand while Sungmin gets everything ready to place the last piece of his customer’s property before it’ll be moved to Seoul to the bank there to be distributed to their owners.

“Here Sheriff.” Kangin hands the man a sliced piece of apple. “Oh the house for such fine work!”

“Thank you Kangin.” Siwon smiles, raising the piece in thanks at the man before devouring it. He’s going to be sitting pretty for quite some time thanks to this capture.

Kyuhyun’s holding onto the rope that binds all 3 men together. He’s going to personally see them handed off to the county deputy who will take them back to the original site of Leeteuk’s first theft to be tried. The man hadn’t been happy when he’d arrived earlier in the week to find that Leeteuk had escaped after being captured, but after Kyuhyun had told him the plan, the man had agreed to wait to see if the plan came to fruition or not. He’d been staying with Siwon the entire time, and no one had even noticed the man since he didn’t come out for any type of social interaction.

“I’m ready for the crown.” Sungmin calls, smiling as he stands next to the bank wagon.

“Look at it long and hard boys!” Siwon chuckles as he goes to Sungmin, showing off the crown to the captured men, all three of them looking at it with ill-disguised want and disgust on Heechul’s part.

Siwon places the crown into the box that Sungmin is holding, the banker smiling proudly as he is reunited with the pricey item. “Hyung, I’m off to the exchange point.” Kyuhyun says, tugging at the rope.

“Have fun!” Siwon waves as Sungmin puts the lid on the box, locking it and pocketing the key before closing the gate of the wagon. Kyuhyun nods, walking off, the three captured men grumbling as they begrudgingly are tugged along by Kyuhyun.

Sungmin turns after locking the gate to the wagon, bumping Siwon and smiling as they shake hands, watching the men being led away.

“Good job.” Sungmin says again as they stand there.

“Thank you. It couldn’t have been done without your help.” Siwon smiles.

They watch as the figures of Kyuhyun leading the criminals to their next destination fade down Main Street as life in Mamacita slowly goes back to normal. Eunhyuk waving his red sheet around while the girls look on in awe. Kangin rubbing the watermelons in his fruit cart, waving off any bugs that may harm his merchandise and Ryeowook cutting hair for his clients. Sungmin counting money in his bank, and Siwon lounging carelessly in front of his office, polishing his guns, waiting for the next big outlaw to be seen in the town called Mamacita.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can't believe it's over. *sad face* I've enjoyed writing this fic probably way too much since I could watch the MV over and over again.
> 
> I'm contemplating putting Adaptation on hiatus since I'm not really happy with how it flows and editing and re-writing parts of it. I had started writing that story before summer hit, and then with a vacation, the death of two close friends and a family member, I just couldn't focus on the story at all. 
> 
> OH!! and before I forget, I'm also doing a giveaway! If 15 people bookmark this story, I will do a one-shot for a random person, 25 bookmarks will have a one shot for 2 random persons, 30 bookmarks is 3 randoms get a one shot and one extra person will get added into a future story of mine as like a major side character or something. 
> 
> Well thank you all for reading this story, and please let me know what you think of it in the comments! I love feedback! :D


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